Proof drying cabinet



Nov. 15, 1960 Filed July 24, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet l LIZ/E17 Tau- [pl/42p 0. Mwazzz'oox 2% aw -%,M

E. o. VANDERCOOK 2,959,870

PROOF DRYING CABINET Nov. 15, 1960 E. o. VANDERCOOK 2,959,870

PROOF DRYING CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 24, 1957 llllf l I l I I I lllllll HI I H J J 1371 21? for Dk 4RD 0. Mwasflcaak Nov. 15, 1960 E. o. VANDERCOOK 2, 59,870

PROQF' DRYING CABINET Filed July 24, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 .E'J J a [Emma d Mwasecaak United States Patent PROOF DRYING CABINET Edward 0. Vandercook, Kenilworth, Ill., assignor to Vaudercook & Sons, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 24, 1957, Ser. No. 673,840

2 Claims. (Cl. 34-151) This invention relates to an improved proof drying cabinet construction, and more particularly relates to proof drying cabinet construction utilizing a double walled housing and a tiered series of slidable, perforate shelf drawers having transparent frontwalls, together with a. hot air circulating system in the housing for circulating warm air over the upper and lower surfaces of the drawers to evenly and rapidly dry proof sheets and the like, placed on the drawers, without curling or buckling.

in thepast, commercially available proof drying cabinets were not wholly satisfactory, primarily because of their uneven heating, which tended to curl the proof sheets and because of their slowness of operation, in that onlya single sheet could normally be dried at a time. :Inraddition, the early proof drying cabinets were large, bulky and cumbersome to operate. -,=The present invention ofiers a solution to several of these problems in the form of an improved proof drying ,cabinet construction that utilizes an evenly distributed flow of heated air across a plurality of shelf-drawers or trays having perforated bottoms and transparent front wall portions. This ensures even drying of both the upper and lower surfaces of proof sheets or other mate- .rial placed on the drawers. The construction also permits a plurality of proof sheets to be dried at one time .while affording visual inspection of the proofs at any state of the drying operation through the transparent drawer end wall, thereby permitting a user to at all times view the sheets being dried and to remove selected sheets from the drying cabinet as desired. 1

Briefly described, the present invention generally contemplatesa cabinet or housing having a double-walled base and side walls, which slidably receive a plurality .of shelf-drawers or trays therein. wall-portions of the double side walls are formed with a plurality of apertures arranged in vertically spaced rows between the drawers, in registry with the spaces between ,the drawers. A fan and'heating element assembly are provided between the double walls in the base portion of the housing which communicate with the space between the double side walls to provide a circulating flow of air through the double side walls and base and between the tiered drawers or trays to thus rapidly dry proof sheets, andlthe like, supported on the drawers.

To this end, the perforateddrawers are preferably formed with screen mesh bottoms and rigid enclosing frames tosimultaneously expose the upper and lower surfaces of a proof sheet supported thereon to the drying flow of air circulating between the drawers while maintaining the proof sheet substantially flat, thereby minimizing any tendencies of the proofs to curl or buckle during the drying process.

The temperature of the drying air circulating between the drawers of the housing is controlled by a thermos'tatic switch device, which, together with the aligned rows of vertically spaced apertures in the inner wall portions of the double side walls of the housing, assures a The inner opposed.

Patented Nov. .15, 1960 rapid and uniform drying action over the entire surface area of the proof sheet, without curling or buckling.

In addition, by utilizing a multiple tiered drawer construction and vertically spaced rows of drying air dispensing apertures between the drawers, heat losses from the cabinet are minimized when a particular drawer is open for insertion or removal of a proof sheet from-the drawer.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved sheet drying cabinet construction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved proof drying cabinet that will assure a rapid and uniform drying of proof sheets inserted there A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved proof drying cabinet that will rapidly dry a plurality of proof sheets without curling or buckling. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved proof drying cabinet utilizing a plurality of drawers having perforated bottoms, together with multiple level rows of apertures in the inner wall portion of the double side walls of the cabinet for circulating a fiow of'drying air between the drawers, thereby assuring a uniform drying of the proof sheets.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved proof drying cabinet utilizing a plurality of tiered drawers having transparent front wall portions, which permit visual inspection of the sheets of material being dried during the drying operation and a removal of selected proof sheets therefrom when one or more different proof types are being dried.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved proof drying cabinet that is simple to operate and economical to use, and which requires little or no maintenance.

Many other objects and advantages of the presentinvention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the accompanying sheets of drawings and detailed description that follows, that form a part of this specification, and in which like reference numerals and letters are used to identify identical parts.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevational view of the proof drying cabinet construction of my invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged front elevation view, partly in section and partly in elevation, and with some parts broken away to show underlying parts Figure 3 is a reduced top plan view of a typicaldrawer used in the cabinet construction of the invention.

Figure 4 is an enlarged, broken oross-sectional view, taken substantially along the line IV-lV of Figure 3';

Figure 5 is an enlarged, broken cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line VV of Figure 3 and a Figure 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken substantially along the line .Vl-Vl of FigureZ.

As shown on the drawings: F

In Figures 1 and 2, the proof drying cabinet assembly of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 10, and includes a generally rectangular housing H, a plurality of shelf drawers D, or trays, that are slidably carried in the housing H, and a hot air recirculating system F (Figure 2) that is positioned in a h llow base portion of the housing H.

The housing H is preferably formed from sheet metal though any other suitable materials could be employed instead, as for example wood or plastic, and .=includes a top wall 11, a pair of double side walls 12 having puter wall portions 12a and inner wall portions 12b,;a;back Wall (not shown), and a double wall base portiorillS, having an upper base wall portion 13a and a lowe wall portion 13b.

As thus shown in Figure 2, the outer and inner wall portions 12a and 12b of the double side walls 12, are sutficiently spaced from each other to provide air spaces or passages 14 therebetween. The air spaces 14 communicate with the hot air recirculating system F in the base portion 13 and serve to direct a flow of air between the drawers D in the housing H, through a series of apertures 15 formed in the inner side wall portions 12b, as will be explained in more detail later.

As best shown in Figure 2, the hot air recirculating system F is preferably positioned in the base portion 13 of the housing H, between the upper and lower base walls 13a and 13b respectively, and generally includes a fan 16, that is enclosed in a suitable housing 17, and which receives air through an inlet duct 18 and discharges air through a tangential exhaust duct 19, a heater element assembly 20, and a thermostatic switch assembly 21 (Figure 1), for controlling the duration of energization of the heater elements 20.

The fan 16 may be any of the commercially available types, having sufficient size and rating to provide the desired air flow through the hot air passages 14 and across the shelf drawers D when the latter have been slidably engaged in the housing H, as will be explained in more detail later.

The heating element assembly 20 may similarly be of any of the commercially available types, such as nichrome wire or bar stock having suflicient size and capacity to assure adequate heating of the air discharging from the tangential exhaust duct 19 into the hot air ducts or passages 14 and apertures 15, when the proof drying cabinet assembly is filled to capacity.

As illustrated in Figure l, the hot air recirculating system F, also includes an on-oif switch 22, and an indicator light 23, to activate the system F and indicate its energized operating condition, respectively.

Thus it will be appreciated that the hot air recirculating system F, located in the hollow base portion 13 of the housing H, together with the air passages 14, define a closed circuit flow path for hot air flowing through the housing H and between the drawers D, the temperature of which may be automatically controlled by the thermostatic switch 21 to maintain a predetermined temperature of the drying air circulating through the housing H.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 3-6, a description of the novel perforated drawers D will follow. As best shown in Figure 3, the drawers D genorally include a rigid rectangular frame 24, having a front edge portion 24a, a rear edge portion 24b, and side edge portion 24c, respectively, a perforate central body or shelf portion 26, and a transparent elongated vertical front wall portion 27, connected to the frame front edge 240.

A typical proof sheet or other article to be dried, is illustrated in dotted line in Figure 3 in a representative drying position, and is designated generally by the reference letter S. 7

As best shown in Figure 4, the rectangular U-shaped frame 24 has a U-shaped cross-sectional configuration, the parallel leg portions of which marginally enclose the perforated shelf portion 26 in clamping engagement, though it should be understood that any other suitable fastening techniques could be used to connect the perforated shelf portion 26 to the frame 24, such as by brazing or welding, or the utilization of conventional fasteners.

The perforate shelf or tray portion 26 of the drawer D is preferably formed from a fine wire mesh or screen, though an apetured sheet metal plate construction could be utilized as well, so long as the assembled frame and perforated tray portion of the drawer D has sufficient strength and rigidity to support a proof sheet in a substantially fiat position while being dried.

The elongated transparent vertical front wall 27 is preferably formed from Lucite, but could also be formed from any other suitable transparent, heat-resistant material such as thermoplastic or Pyrex glass.

As best shown in Figure 5, the front edge portion 24a of the frame 24 is formed with an upturned flange portion 28, to facilitate attachment of the elongated transparent front wall portion 27 of the drawer D, as for example by fasteners 29. A pull knob 30 may be connected to the front wall 27 by a fastener 31, to facilitate movement of the drawers D into and out of the housing H.

Thus it will be appreciated that the drawers D are substantially flat perforate trays each having an elongated transparent front wall portion which serves to close the open end of the housing H when each of the drawers are fully engaged therewith, to thus prevent the escape of hot circulating air from the housing while other proof sheets are being inserted in or removed from the cabinet assembly 10.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 6 in conjunction with Figure 2, the assembled relationship of the drawers D in the housing H and their pressure sealed relationship therein will be explained.

In order to maintain the drawers D properly oriented in the housing H in relation to the apertures 15, the inner wall portions 12b of the housing H are provided with a plurality of flanged rails or guides 32 that are mounted in spaced relationship along the inner wall portions 12b. The rails 32 extend substantially between the front and back of the housing H to slidably support and engage the side portions 25c of the rectangular frame 24. As best shown in Figure 6, the rails or guides 32 are mounted on the inner walls 12b in pairs, and in vertically spaced relationship, substantially corresponding to the vertical height of the front wall portion 27 of the drawers D.

It should be understood however that any other suitable support means could be utilized to slidably support the drawers D on the inner wall portions 12b of the housing H, as for example, brackets, spaced pins or rollers.

In order to assure a substantially air tight seal between the transparent front wall portions 27 of the drawers D and the front face of the housing H, a series of vertically spaced horizontally extending bars or strips 33 are provided, which define a rectangular frame around each drawer opening for engagement with the upper and lower marginal edge portions of the transparent front wall portions 27 of the drawers D, when the drawers are fully inserted in the housing H.

Thus, when each of the drawers D is in its fully engaged position in the housing H, the transparent front wall portions 27 of the drawers D, together with the laterally extending bars 33, form a substantially air tight front wall for the housing H, which presents a neat appearance and also permits rapid visual observation of the contents in each drawer without opening the same.

Referring again to Figure 6, it will be observed that the apertures 15 in the inner wall portion 12b are arranged in aligned rows between the flanged drawer rails or guides 32, and extend substantially for the full length of the drawers.

As previously described, the apertures 15 register with the hot air passages 14, between the double side walls 12 of the housing H, to thus complete the closed circuit flow path for air entering the hot air recirculating system F, through the inlet duct 18 and that is discharged through the exhaust duct 19 and past the heater element 20. The general path of the air through the housing H is illustrated by arrows in Figure 2, the wavy arrow in the exhaust duct 19, adjacent the heater element 20, indicating the heated condition of the drying air discharging through the exhaust duct 19 after passing through the heater element assembly 20.

The number, size and location of the apertures 15 in the inner wall portion He is largely a matter of choice, and may be varied with the size of the housing H, the

capacity and flow rate of the hot air circulating system F, and the type of material to be dried.

Thus it will be appreciated that the perforated drawers D of the proof drying cabinet assembly 10, together with the horizontally extending vertically spaced rows of apertures 15, mutually cooperate to define a drying air flow path through the double side walls 12 and base portion 13 of the housing H, and between the drawers D, such that proof sheets or other material to be dried in the cabinet assembly 10, will be exposed to a recirculating flow of air on both its upper and lower surfaces, to thus assure a rapid drying of the proof sheets without curling or buckling.

In operation, the thermostatic control switch 21 is initially set at a desired operating temperature to be maintained in the proof drying cabinet assembly 10, and the hot air recirculating system is energized by the switch 22, which condition is indicated by the indicator light 23. When the desired operating temperature is reached, the wet proof sheets may be individually placed on the'perforated shelf or tray portion 26 of the drawers D, such that both the upper and lower surfaces of the proof sheets are exposed to a drying air flow.

As illustrated in Figure 1, up to 19 individual proof sheets may be inserted in the drawers D for drying in the proof drying cabinet assembly 10, though it should be understood that more or less than this number of drawers could be employed in the construction of the proof drying cabinet assembly 10, depending upon the average number of sheets to be run in a particular job.

Difiering sizes and types of sheets may continue to be inserted on separate drawers and slid into the housing H and removed therefrom at the completion of the drying operation, without appreciably reducing the flow of drying air around adjacent sheets, due to the substantially separate air flow path around each sheet.

The transparent front wall portion 27 of the drawers D permits ready visual inspection of the proof sheets throughout the full drying operation, as well as permitting an operator to remove selected sheets from the cabinet assembly where the sheets bearing different indicia or legends are concurrently being dried.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it should be understood that various modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts herein disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A drying device for proof sheets comprising a housing having a pair of opposed, hollow side walls including flow channels defined by inner and outer wall portions for each of the walls, a removable tray having a flat, planar and perforate construction over the major portion of its area formed by a foraminous material and coplanar frame means surrounding and holding the foraminous means, a wall portion secured in perpendicular relationship to said tray along one edge of said frame, a guide rail on each of said inner wall portions of said housing, said guide rails being disposed in registration with one another and slidably supporting opposed frame portions of the frame of said tray, said inner wall portions each having an upper row of flow orifices of relatively small dimension and extending in predetermined spaced relationship substantially in parallelism to the guide rail for each Wall portion, and a lower row of relatively small flow orifices extending substantially in parallelism to the guide rail of each of said wall portions and in parallelism to the upper row of flow orifices thereof, said upper and lower rows of flow orifices being substantially equally spaced from the guide rails on said inner wall portions and being in proximate relationship thereto, said housing having a wall forming an opening which is closable by the wall portion on said tray and air flow means for effecting the flow of air through the flow channels in said side walls and through said flow orifices substantially in equal volume above and below said tray as a result of the equal spacing of said rows of flow orifices from said guide rails supporting said tray, the proximate relation of said flow orifices to said guide rails and to said tray, effecting an equal drying action on the upper and lower surfaces of said tray whereby a sheet of material or the like which may be disposed on the tray for drying is dried at an equal rate on the upper and lower surfaces thereof so that deformation of the sheet of material due to unequal drying action on such surfaces is eliminated.

2. A drying device for proof sheets comprising a housing having a pair of opposed, hollow side walls including flow channels defined by inner and outer wall portions for each of the walls, a removable tray having a flat, planar and perforate construction over the major portion of its area formed by a foraminous material and coplanar frame means surrounding and holding the foraminous means, a wall portion secured in perpendicular relationship to said tray along one edge of said frame, a guide rail on each of said inner wall portions of said housing, said guide rails being disposed in registration with one another and slidably supporting opposed frame portions of the frame of said tray, said inner wall portions each having an upper row of flow orifices of relatively small dimension and extending in predetermined spaced relationship substantially in parallelism to the guide rail for each wall portion, and a lower row of relatively small flow orifices extending substantially in parallelism to the guide rail of each of said wall portions and in parallelism to the upper row of flow orifices thereof, said upper and lower rows of flow orifices being substantially equally spaced from the guide rails on said inner wall portions and being in proximate relationship thereof, said housing having a wall forming an opening which is closable by the wall portion on said tray and air flow means for effecting the flow of air through the flow channels in said side walls and through said flow orifices substantially in equal volume above and below said tray as a result of the equal spacing of said rows of flow orifices from 7 said guide rails supporting said tray, the proximate relation of said flow orifices to said guide rails and, to said tray, effecting an equal drying action on the upper and lower surfaces of said tray whereby a sheet of material or the like which may be disposed on the tray for drying is dried at an equal rate on the upper and lower surfaces thereof so that deformation of the sheet of material due to unequal drying action on such surfaces is eliminated, said flow orifices being equally spaced axially in each of said rows of flow orifices and disposed at a distance from each other such as to maintain an even flow of air across said tray with respect to both axes of the tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,060,065 Gill et al. Nov. 10, 1936 2,396,455 Booth Mar. 12, 1946 2,410,129 Phelps Oct. 29, 1946 2,557,605 Kohut June 19, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 126,135 Great Britain May 2, 1919 

